Bhakti yoga explores “false ego”

Hannah Khan
Contributing Writer

The Bhakti Yoga Club held a discussion on the topic of false ego Thursday night in the Student Commons with guest speaker Sabala Das.

Bhakti Yoga is an advanced form of yoga which cultivates spirituality in everyday life and environments through emphasis on living in harmony with nature and containing ego by restraining personal desires.

Das has been practicing yoga for over a decade, and helped lead the group discussion on the concept of false ego, the idea that a person’s self and external body are one and the same. Participants sat on the floor in a circle while sharing life experiences about the idea of ego.

“College students eat sleep and study, but are they happy?” Das said. “There are so many pressures on college students which make them not mentally peaceful.”

VCU alumni and non-profit humanitarian Bobby Junes also participated in the night’s discussion.

“[I came tonight] because if all you do is look at life through what you have been taught all your life, you never live,” Junes said. “I’m 58 and it wasn’t until the last 25 years of my life that I have begun to understand that life isn’t about you anymore.”

Junes said he believes the idea of letting go of the false ego is pertinent to college students because “they believe what their professors and parents tell them instead of finding life out on their own.”

This lecture was organized by Bhakti Yoga Club president and founder Sarita Telhan, a junior clinical lab science major.

Bhakti Yoga Club has organized other activities like music festivals, presentations, and guest lectures from different swamis, or Hindu monks. The club plans on continuing these activities in the future as well as having new programs such as a “yoga rave.”

“Everyone has different experiences, and it is really interesting to see who comes to the programs we put on,” Telhan said. “Our club fosters exploration and the different speakers have at some point been where we are now, so it is interesting to hear what they have to say.”